Smetana’s Piano Reductions and How He Used Them
| Pages | 66–100 |
|---|---|
| DOI | 10.37520/muscz.2025.003 |
| Keywords | Bedřich Smetana, Joseph Proksch, Jindřich Kàan z Albestů, piano reduction, piano-vocal score, Smetana’s instrumental works and operas, ways music was disseminated in the 19th century |
| Citation | POSPÍŠIL, Milan. Smetana’s Piano Reductions and How He Used Them. Musicalia. Journal of the Czech Museum of Music / Časopis Českého muzea hudby . Prague: National Museum, 2025, 17(1-2), 66–100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/muscz.2025.003. ISSN 1803-7828 (Print), 2533-5634 (Online). Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/musicalia-journal-of-the-czech-museum-of-music-casopis-ceskeho-muzea-hudby/17-1-2/smetanas-piano-reductions-and-how-he-used-them |
After briefly explaining what the term piano reduction means, the article deals with Smetana’s piano arrangements of his own and other people’s compositions originally written for different instrumentation and vocal parts. Arrangements of orchestral compositions for two and four pianos were intended for pedagogical purposes. The composer arranged some of his own instrumental works for piano four-hands alone with the goal of presenting the works through a printed edition to interested parties at home and abroad for study and performances. Smetana placed great importance on piano reductions for drawing the attention of the public and of other theatres to his operas. He arranged four of them himself: Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride), Dalibor, Libuše, and Hubička (The Kiss). His piano reductions strove to transcribe the orchestral writing as faithfully as possible for piano, and they were primarily intended for study and for public performances. For the popularisation of his operatic music with the general public, Smetana also contributed his own arrangements of his overtures for piano four-hands, tried to get individual arias published, and even gave consent for the publication of medleys of his opera melodies.